NANCY COATES

COATES--Nancy.

Nancy Sloane Coates, of Haverford, PA. died on Thursday March 12th, at home. She was the wife of the late Benjamin Coates and mother of Theodate Coates and Benjamin Coates Jr., grandmother of Dionicia O'Sullivan and Anatole Xavier Hernandez, great grandmother of Sebastian, Oona and Lucian. Nancy Sloane Coates was born in New York City, October 16, 1920. Her family founded "W and J Sloane" whose flagship department store was located at 19th Street and Broadway in the "Ladies Mile." W and J Sloane's decorators were responsible for the decor of the White House and the Breakers in the late 1800's. As a young woman, Nancy was inspired by Florence Nightingale. She entered the Columbia School of Nursing and graduated in 1944 earning a degree as an R.N. She also married Benjamin Coates in 1944 who was in the Navy at the time and later earned a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Throughout her life, she was concerned with charities for veterans and the mentally ill. In 1956 she expanded the work of Mrs. Lytle Hull, who founded the Musicians Emergency Fund in New York City to provide professional concerts and musical therapy for wounded American veterans, to Philadelphia. Her organization raised funds by holding parties and an annual designer clothing sale. When the U.S. government took over funding for musical therapy for the veterans, the women of the Pennsylvania branch of the organization decided to continue their clothing sale with a new focus on local charities. In 1977 they reorganized as Community Clothes Charity. In the years since, the sale has grown from a one-day event in a private house to a three-day public sale. The Community Clothes Charity is continuing and every year a different charity receives the proceeds of the sale. Nancy's favorite charity recipient was "Puppies behind Bars." She also served on the women's committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art for 58 years. She is much loved and remembered by her family, friends and the members of the Community Clothes Charity.